Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActress
Date of Birth18 September 1950
CountryUnited States of America
came debates race since talk talking willing work
I talk about race a lot. It's been my work ever since I came out of acting school. But it's true that in a way talking about race is a taboo. Because so many of our debates about race have to do not with race but with what we are willing to see, what we will not see and what we don't want to see.
artists came decided far home possible school specific terms
I made a real specific decision when I came out of school and most artists were writing about home - if you were a woman, you were writing about being a woman - and I decided not to do that, write about what you know. That's not what I do. I went as far away from home as possible in terms of the development of my imagination.
baltimore came course people
Because of the generation in which I came into the world, there were expectations. Of course there were expectations. It was something having to do with being a respectable Negro woman who would make the people in Baltimore proud.
african came life respect strong
To live your life well, and have respect for what came before or after - there's a strong respect for that in African culture.
war stress thinking
People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming back from war now; years ago, they would have been killed, now they're wounded; and they're coming back alive and with post-traumatic stress. So, I think Americans are sensible enough to know we've got to figure out a way to take care of them.
kids thinking people
I think as a kid I always liked to listen to people. I loved hearing stories.
thinking order creative
I think we can learn a lot about a person in the very moment that language fails them. In the very moment they they have to be more creative than they would have imagined in order to communicate. It's the very moment that they have to dig deeper than the surface to find words, and at the same time, it's a moment when they want to communicate very badly. They're digging deep and projecting out at the same time.
hard-work thinking doctors
I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.
confidence hopeful mark
Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.
curiosity
I am not myself; I am the potential of myself.
jobs interviews way
I don't talk a lot when I interview. My job is to get out of the way.
discipline crucial
Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.
ideas people firsts
For me, first of all, I love people, I love ideas.
art
Art simply can’t be stopped.